B12 Deficiency - Page 3

don't be to sure on the beef tongue or the cheek meat :)  put that ina  crock pot and you may not like the smell, but the dogs will.  My EPI boy was raw fed, so I did not have to smell it.   My old man had been an iffy eater as puppy, was good all the time as an adult, and has gotten iffy again.  He has kidney issues and a few years back i sent his blood in as a healthy seniro GSD for EPI research and he came back witha  bordelrine TLI.  he has never been symptomatic of EPI.  EVER.  anyway, so knowing that he was borderline and has some kidney involvement, b vitamins are called for.....  when he started going off his food again recently is when i took him in for a blood panel and found the kidney issues that needed dealing with.  soooo, i don't know if seniors need it, just know b 12 is water soluble and I am  not worried about supplementing with it, like I would be with something like fat soluble vitamin like vit a or d....  The metagenics pill it tiny and i just toss it in his food.

I have a female right now that would eat til she threw up and the eat that and eat some more....  I haveboth ends of the appetite spectrum with my dogs and i prefer the eating end of that spectrum, less stressful on me.

Darcy

Yes I also have both ends of the spectrum, my nearly 14 year old girl will eat until she bursts;  I have to measure everything out for her so she does not gain weight;  buy my picky boy hates to eat and he also has kidney issues as in kidney failure so I do believe I will start him on B12 to see if he gets hungry and will at least give him a little assist.  Know he won't eat the cheek/tongue raw so will have to cook it, can y ou cut the stuff once you cook it?  How long do you cook it in crock pot?  I am willing to try about anything at this point knowing the end may be approaching sooner than later.  Thx again for sharing ideas and info  Nan

Thanks for the information on the B12 and getting a dog to eat.  Rose is my picky eater.  We will see what changes with the spaying.  If she stays as a picky eater, I will definitely talk to vet about B12.

I completely agree about the eating end being less stressful!! A couple of my dogs are a tad chunky at the moment, but I'm ok with that going into winter. The vet has told the owner of the pup that there is no real way to overdose on b12, so giving him a large amount is ok and he will just pass the excess. She also is just putting the tablet in his food bowl and he eats it just fine.
I've had finicky eaters before, but nothing was ever diagnosed as a problem (and trust me we did every test known to mankind since I worked at a vet at the time). This little pup apparently lost his appetite completely and she was nearly having to force feed him to get enough into him. Since he has been on the b12 he has been doing great!!

Nans GSD, yes, you can cut it after it is cooked.....  like I said if you get cheek and some parts of the tongue, watch out for the fat....  very rich and can give them diarrhea.  Umm....  since I wasn't eating it, i just cooked it until it was done ? LOL  I think if you just serached cooked beef tongue, you will come up with methods and times.  best wishes to your senior crew...

Picky does not necessarily mean low B12....  unless you have reason to believe it is B12 you can run a B12 folate level test with TAMU.    I just knwo my guys levels were on teh way donw a few years back and with his kidney issues it was appropriate to supplement.

Darcy

So does anyone else on here have any experience with this?  and has anyone else used in to boost their dogs fertility? This is new to me, so just curious.

B12 deficiency occurs commonly for one of 2 reasons. Not eating meat, or an intrinsic factor deficiency. Intrinsic factor is a b12 transport protein. IF deficiency is genetic or acquired.

Not that I am trying to be a vet or anything, but here I go again.  Vitamin B-12 cannot be absorbed into the bloodstream without an enzyme produced in the pancreas called Intrinsic Factor. This is why alot of dogs with malabsorption issues are vitamin B-12 deficient. EPI was mentioned above because Pancreatic Insufficiency means the pancreas is not secreting sufficient enzymes to digest the food properly. Intrinsic factor is one of those enzymes. Also a dog with IBD or SIBO may be unable to absorb B-12 because it is absorbed through the small intestine into the body.

Thus, simply giving a dog B-12 pills will not suffice and this is why B-12 can be given sub q just under the skin where it will be absorbed into the body without being digested.

You can also order vitamin B-12 at wonderlabs.com where they make a capsule of B-12 that contains Intrinsic Factor in the capsule so the dog can absorb the B-12.  It is called Trinfac-B Intrinsic factor.  These pills can work for dogs that are low B-12 without having to give shots once the B-12 is back up from the initial shot.

IMHO, intrinsic factor is produced in the stomach and not pancreas...nothing to do with pancreas. Otherwise you are accurate.

I thought I should let you on to an insider secret. There is not one single B12 assay on the market which is reliable when B12 deficiency is due to intrinsic factor deficiency (which is the majority of cases).